Artificial candle



p 1937. c. u. GRUNDMAN 2,077,107

ARTIFICIAL CANDLE Filed March 14, .1935

INVENTOR B064 r/e: [I Grandma Mme/Am;

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES ARTIFICIAL CANDLE CharlesU. Grundman, Palisade Park, N. J.

Application March 14, 1935, Serial No. 10,997 2 Claims. (01. 240-524)This invention relates in general to an artificial candle of generalapplication, and particularly relates to a lighting device designed foruse on Christmas trees, and the invention specifically relates to aholder for supporting an electric light socket of the small plug typecommonly found on Christmas tree lighting outfits.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, easilymanufactured tubular holder, the outside of which will be colored orotherwise finished to simulate a candle, and which holder is designed tosupport at one end an electric light socket and at the other end isprovided with mounting means, both formed as an integral part of thetubular structure and functioning without necessity of adding additionalparts to the tubular holder.

Broadly this invention is attained by forming a tube, preferably ofcardboard with its exposed side colored to give the appearance of acolored candle, with one end slitted to provide a splitring form ofmounting for receiving the plug end of the electric light socket andwith the opposite end split to form a bifurcated saddle for straddlingthe branch of a Christmas tree or similar rod-like support.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in partobvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawing and in part willbe more fully set forth in the following particular description of oneform of device embodying the invention, and the invention also consistsin certain new and novel features of construction and combination ofparts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a tubular electric light mounting andartificial candle constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vieW partly in elevation showing the tube of Fig. 1 mountedon the branch of the Christmas tree and with an electric light bulb andsocket mounted at the upper end and with parts broken away at the upperpart of the tube to show the mounting of the socket in place; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are each horizontal transverse sectional views takenrespectively on the lines 50 33 and 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2.

In the drawing there is shown a pasteboard, or wrapped paper tubularmember ID of cylindrical form. In one commercial embodiment of theinvention the tube is three and one-half 55 inches long andeleven-sixteenths inch externa-l diameter and coated on its outer sidewith red paper. The upper end of the tube ll! is provided with a slit Hextending longitudinally of the tube on one side thereof and terminatesat its lower end in an enlarged circular opening [2. There is thusformed at the upper end of the tube a split-ring in which is intrudedthe plug end l3 of an electric light socket M which socket is providedwith an outlining bead l5 engaging and seated on the upper edge l6 ofthe tube to limit the inward movement of the socket as it is inserted inthe split-ring. It is understood that these parts are so designed thatthe split-ring is somewhat resilient and snugly engages the plug l3 tohold the socket with a frictionally tight fit. An electric light bulb I?is conventionally screwed into the upper open end of the socket.Extending from the underside of the socket l3 are electric light wiresor leads l8 which are passed through the slit II as the socket ispositioned in place and protrude from the interior of the tube throughthe opening I2 when the socket is located in its seated position shownin Fig. 2.

The lower end of the tubular member 10 is slotted with a pair oflongitudinally extending slots positioned diametrically relative to eachother on opposite sides of the tube, one or" which slots is shown at l9in Fig. 1. The lower open end of the slots is beveled as shown at 29 sothat the lower end of the tube may be readily inserted over a branch 2!of a Christmas tree or similar rod like support. It will be understoodfrom this construction that the lower end of the tube is bifurcated toform a saddle 22 designed to straddle the support 2| and it will beunderstood that normally there will be suiiicient resiliency, orclutching efiect, atthe lower end of the tube to insure the maintainingof the construction as a whole in the upright position shown in Fig. 2.Usually that size branch or other support" 2! will be selected whichwill have a diameter slightly greater than the width of the slots I9 andas the tube is gently forced on to its support there will be somedistortion of the edges of the slits as indicated at 23 in Fig. 2. Thisdistortion has no permanent efiect upon the tubes and as soon as thetube is withdrawn from the branch, it will either restore itselfautomatically to its initial condition, or the distorted parts formingthe saddle 22 maybe forced back into position simply by pressing thesides of the distorted slot back towards its original position.

It is also suggested as a more economical struc- PATENT OFFICE ture toprovide a single slit extending from end to end to take the place of thetwo slits II and IS in those cases where there is suflicient rigidity inthe tubular member ID to maintain its formed configuration.

While there has been shown, described and pointed out in the annexedclaims, certain novel features of the invention, it will be understoodthat various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form anddetails of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A holder and mounting for an electric light socket simulating acandle comprising solely a cardboard, thin walled tube open at oppositeends, having one end slitted to provide a somewhat resilient,split-rin-g form of mounting for receiving and snugly engaging the plugend of an electric light socket and having the opposite end split atdiametrically opposite points to form a bifurcated saddle for straddlingthe branch of a Christmas tree or similar rod-like support, and saidtube forming an unslitted cylindrical portion between the slitted ends.

2. An artificial candle comprising a one-piece cardboard tube ofcylindrical form having opposite ends slitted and otherwise free ofstructural parts, one slitted end constituting a split-ring form ofclamp for receiving the plug end of an electric light socket with africtionally tight fit and the other end slitted at diametricallyopposite points and constituting a saddle-like means for mounting thecandle in place and the lower ends of the slits being beveled to permitthe entrance into the slits of a rod-like mounting.

CHARLES U. GRUNDMAN.

